Financial reports now featured on school websites

Published 3:02 pm, Friday, April 22, 2016

By TRACI L. WEISENBACH

Tribune Staff Writer

UPPER THUMB — When you visit your local school district’s website, you’ll see something relatively new — a “Budget and Salary/Compensation Transparency Reporting” icon that when clicked, will take visitors to a plethora of financial information required by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE).

Earlier this year, MDE sent a memo to all school district superintendents about its guidelines for posting financial data to district websites, as required by the State School Aid Act. The guidelines were developed with input from the House and Senate fiscal agencies, the state budget office and representatives from the Michigan School Business Officials (MSBO). The MDE memo stated the guidelines were created “in the spirit of promoting reporting transparency as it relates to expenditures made by Michigan’s public schools.”

After MDE released its guidelines, MSBO officials developed a common format that districts could use to meet the reporting requirements. There are several reports that districts needed to post, including annual operating budget and subsequent revisions, summary of expenditures, collective bargaining agreements and health care plans, audit, salary and benefits of the superintendent and employees whose salary exceeds $100,000, annual amount spent on dues paid to organizations and annual amount spent on lobbying or lobbying services.

As for employees whose salary exceeds $100,000, this included only the superintendent in many of the districts, although some superintendents’ salaries did not reach $100,000. The only K-12 district to have more than one employee earning more than $100,000 is Harbor Beach Community Schools. Superintendent Ron Kraft and K-8 Principal/Curriculum Director Denise Kish each make more than $100,000, according to the district’s report. Both fill in as high school principal, as well, the report states. The Huron Intermediate School District (HISD) also has two people receiving more than $100,000 — Superintendent Janet Richards and Special Education Director Jeanne Eilers.

According to the requirements, districts needed to create two pie charts, with one depicting personnel expenditures broken down into four categories (salaries and wages, benefit costs, retirement benefit costs and all other personnel costs), and the other chart depicting all district expenditures broken down into four categories (instruction, support services, business and administration and operations and maintenance).

Districts needed to post the reports within 30 days of passing their 2010-11 budget, or no later than July 30. In addition, MDE required that the icon be posted on the main homepage of each district’s website and linked to the reports. Districts also needed to label the information “in a manner which makes it clear to the reader what timeframe the information relates.” Districts are required to keep the information up to date, as well.